Dominique Strauss-Kahn was locked behind bars in New York last night
The IMF chief was remanded in custody as a "flight risk", after prosecutors warned he would flee to Europe "just like Roman Polanski", the film director who spent 32 years as a fugitive from the US.
Mr Strauss-Kahn was arrested trying to leave the country on a plane at JFK airport, the judge was told, while evidence suggested he had carried out similar assaults "on at least one other occasion".
The 62-year-old father of four now faces up to 74 years in prison if convicted of a series of sex crimes against the maid in his $3,000-a-night suite at the Manhattan Sofitel on Saturday afternoon. His lawyers earlier said he would plead not guilty to the charges.
"This battle has just begun," his attorney Benjamin Brafman said outside New York City's central criminal court after the hearing. "Mr Strauss-Kahn is innocent".
Judge Melissa Jackson was told by prosecutors how Mr Strauss-Kahn "sexually assaulted and attempted to forcibly rape" the 32-year-old maid, an African immigrant and mother, after locking her in his room.
